Water is a key aspect of mining.  Mining will typically take place over a very large footprint and will have a large area of influence. Mining companies need to identify the water catchment in which the orebody is located and they need to understand what impact they may have on that catchment in terms of discharging into it and, for example, where this might cause an impact in terms of risk of flooding etc.  The company will also need to understand how abstracting water from the mine might impact on the water balance within the catchment and potentially deprive sensitive areas of water.